Oregon's feel-good season hits a roadblock with another Bay Area blunder

View full sizeCalifornia's Allen Crabbe (23) celebrates in the moments after the Bears clinched a 58-54 victory over Oregon at Haas Pavilion on Saturday.Doug Duran/Contra Costa Times/MCT

BERKELEY, Calif. — This was never going to be easy. For
several weeks, Oregon coach Dana Altman had been telling that to anyone who
would listen.

This feel-good return to relevance, this chase for a Pac-12
Conference championship, this march toward the NCAA Tournament — no, none of
this was going to be easy.

Evidence of that came into focus for No. 10 Oregon as the
California students poured onto the Haas Pavilion floor Saturday afternoon. They
cheered and stomped at midcourt in celebration of the Golden Bears' 10th
consecutive victory over Oregon, 58-54, while the Ducks, beaten and bruised
again by the Bay, shuffled off the floor.

Oregon (18-4, 7-2 Pac-12), ranked in the top 10 for the
first time in nearly six years, was coming off a humbling 76-52 loss at
Stanford on Wednesday, its first conference loss after a 7-0 start to Pac-12
play.

The Ducks, who have lost consecutive games for the first
time since March 2011, are now in a tie for first with Arizona heading into the second half
of conference play.

The Ducks had a 50-42 lead over the Bears (13-8, 5-4) with
6-1/2 minutes left, and still lead 54-48 with 4 minutes to play, before Cal
ended the game on a 10-0 run.

"I feel really bad for the guys," Altman said. "We played
really hard and had the six-point lead with four minutes to go. We just didn't
get any stops. From there, I think they scored just about every time. And we
didn't."

Indeed, the Ducks had their two worst offensive performances
on the season on this always-troubling Bay Area trip. And they did it without
starting point guard Dominic Artis, who missed his third consecutive game with
a foot injury. Without him, the Ducks have committed a staggering 65 turnovers
in three games, including 22 on Saturday.

Oregon was able to sneak past Washington a week earlier at
home without Artis. On the road, Oregon was exposed again for its lackluster
ball-handling and inconsistent outside shooting. In addition to the 22
turnovers, the Ducks were 2-for-12 on three-point attempts against Cal; that
included an open look for senior E.J. Singler in the final 10 seconds, a shot
that would've given Oregon the lead.

"The turnovers are a concern," Altman said. "We only got up
42 shots. (Cal) took 17 more shots than we did. Turn the ball over 22 times, and
23 the other night (at Stanford), yeah, it's a big concern. You're not going to
score many points with that many turnovers."

After Singler's
missed three-pointer, UO senior center Tony Woods grabbed the offensive
rebound, only to have his putback attempt blocked by Cal's David Kravish. That
forced a jump ball, giving possession to Cal.

Cal point guard Justin Cobbs, who had hit a long,
tiebreaking jumper in front of the Bears' bench with 1:32 left, then sank two
free throws with 3.9 seconds left for the final margin.

Woods finished with 14 points and Arsalan Kazemi had 10 for
the Ducks, who shot 20-of-24 (.476). Richard Solomon and Allen Crabbe had 13
each for Cal, which shot 21-of-59 (.356).

As if Artis' injury weren't enough, Oregon was hit with another
scare at the point-guard position with junior Johnathan Loyd jammed his right
thumb on the floor after being fouled in the waning moments of the first half. Trainer
Clay Jamieson escorted Loyd to the locker room as Loyd held a towel over his
face.

"When I saw he went down, I was really nervous because that
would've (left) us with one point guard, and that would've been really tough,"
UO senior Arsalan Kazemi said.

But Loyd did return in the second half, though with his
right thumb and wrist wrapped in tape. He finished with eight points, a
season-high seven assists and two steals, though he was credited with six of
Oregon's 22 turnovers.

"He was all heart tonight," Woods said. "It was pretty bad.
But he's the heart of our team, so he fought through."

Altman did not know the severity of Loyd's injury. "I just
know it's really sore," he said.

Altman did not have a timeline for Artis' return. But as the
Ducks prepared to leave the Bay — and probably not quick enough — it was clear they
could use his help.

NOTES: The Ducks have been swept in the Bay Area 21 times in
their last 37 trips. ... Oregon has never defeated Cal coach Mike Montgomery in
23 games in the Bay Area, with the first 18 of those victories coming while
Montgomery was the coach at Stanford.